This is a conversation I love to have with "nonbelievers" and something I touch on in the programs that I do and it always gets a lot of questions.

My favorite example from my own collection is from my big female burmese. If I touch her when she's resting, she'll hiss at me, coil whatever part of her body that I'm touching back, and then (for lack of a better description) "shove" me. She'll continue to do this until she gets tired of it (or gets tired of me laughing at her) and then she'll move, but it's fun to watch.

Even among different species there's absolutely a difference.... like the OP said about the ball python, my Macklots are both VERY curious and seem to always be aware of what's going on. This may not be the right forum to say this in, but that's in stark contrast to 3 of my 4 balls (the spider being the exception) which basically do just sit there and ignore the world.